Bad Draft Picks

[SFCRamFan]

Winning is a strange thing sometimes, and one should note that the Rams sucked from 1995-1998, and had bad drafts most of those years, many busts yet they won it all with a non drafted guy at QB, at MLB, at Center, at one guard at defensive tackle etc.

The only first round high picks starting were Kevin Carter, Grant Wisrtom, Orlando Pace, Torry Holt. and Todd Lyght. All were in the top 10 in round one, the product of sucking for so long.

Ike Bruce was a very high #2. So was Dre Bly, who didn't start.

Only 12 players on that 1999 roster, nine of them starters, were drafted by the Rams, and 8 of those on the roster, five starters, were from just two drafts, 1997 and 1998.

You just have to have a couple very good drafts to become good in a hurry, if you get some key guys that are very very good early on draft day.

Thanks Barry. Need to spread some rep around before giving you more. I really appreciate the logic in this post. It just shows the importance of evaluating talent by signing good free agents and how much of a crap shoot the draft really is. Sometimes the leaders don't come from the draft. They are un-drafted free agents or free agent signings. You can train up a player for years, and they may never develop. Then someone steps up out of nowhere. Call it what you want: Diamonds in the rough or the luck of the draw.
I am tired of looking back. We all know that the past did us no favors, but we have a new regime. Just hit the reset button and evaluate things from this point forward...

[shower beers]

The Giants were saved this 2006 draft by their LATE picks
1 1 32 32 Mathias Kiwanuka DE Boston College
2 2 12 44 Sinorice Moss WR Miami (FL)
3 3 32 96 Gerris Wilkinson LB Georgia Tech
4 4 27 124 Barry Cofield DT Northwestern
5 4 32 129 Guy Whimper T East Carolina
6 5 26 158 Charlie Peprah DB Alabama
7 7 24 232 Gerrick McPhearson DB Maryland
2005 1 2 11 43 Corey Webster DB Louisiana State
2 3 10 74 Justin Tuck DE Notre Dame
3 4 9 110 Brandon Jacobs RB Southern Illinois
4 6 12 186 Eric Moore DE Florida State

Here are some poor Colts drafts
2005
2005 1 1 29 29 Marlin Jackson DB Michigan
2 2 28 60 Kelvin Hayden DB Illinois
3 3 28 92 Vincent Burns DE Kentucky
4 4 28 129 Dylan Gandy G Texas Tech
5 4 34 135 Matt Giordano DB California
6 5 12 148 Jonathan Welsh DE Wisconsin
7 5 29 165 Robert Hunt C North Dakota State
8 5 37 173 Tyjuan Hagler LB Cincinnati
9 6 28 202 Dave Rayner K Michigan State
10 7 29 243 Anthony Davis RB Wisconsin

I know it's nit-picking, but Kiwanuka is a starter for them, so to exclude him from being a good part of that draft is a bit wrong. Also, I would say Justin Tuck and Brandon Jacobs are two pretty solid pickups.

As far as the Colts go, 2005 got them their two starting DBs, in round 1 and 2. Even if every other pick doesn't work out, when you lock up the DB position in two rounds, that's a pretty solid draft in my opinion.

[1st & Goal]

I think someone needs to clerify what a draft bust really is.

Is it a player who failed to live up to expectations for the round they were selected?
If so, then where does the fault lie? The player or the team?

After the draft was over there was a lot of discussion about who fell in the draft or who was taken to high. Oakland takes Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th pick in the first round. Despite everyones opinion that he was no better than the 3rd to 6th best wide receiver in the draft. If he failes to exceed the other receives stats as a rookie, is he a bust or is he a product of a teams poor evaluation?

[txramsfan]

Teams like the Colts and Patriots sign free agents also. More so than most teams.

[jmk321]

<<<Teams that consistantly have good drafts like the Patriots, Colts and Giants do have busts but they also have many players that develope into pro bowlers and solid starters. The Rams don't.>>

These teams do NOT always have good drafts

Look at the Pats 2006 draft below. Maroney has proven to be injury prone and average, and they got a kicker. Other than that - nothing

1 1 21 21 Laurence Maroney RB Minnesota
2 2 4 36 Chad Jackson WR Florida
3 3 22 86 Dave Thomas TE Texas
4 4 9 106 Garrett Mills TE Tulsa
5 4 21 118 Stephen Gostkowski K Memphis
6 5 3 136 Ryan O'Callaghan G California
7 6 22 191 Jeremy Mincey DE Florida
8 6 36 205 Dan Stevenson G Notre Dame
9 6 37 206 Le Kevin Smith DT Nebraska
10 7 21 229 Willie Andrews DB Baylor
Their 2000 draft was saved by one pick, in round 6.
2000 1 2 15 46 Adrian Klemm T Hawaii
2 3 14 76 J.R. Redmond RB Arizona State
3 4 33 127 Greg Robinson-Randall T Michigan State
4 5 12 141 Dave Stachelski TE Boise State
5 5 32 161 Jeff Marriott DT Missouri
6 6 21 187 Antwan Harris DB Virginia
7 6 33 199 Tom Brady QB Michigan
8 6 35 201 David Nugent DT Purdue
9 7 20 226 Casey Tisdale LB New Mexico
10 7 33 239 Patrick Pass RB Georgia

The Giants were saved this 2006 draft by their LATE picks
1 1 32 32 Mathias Kiwanuka DE Boston College
2 2 12 44 Sinorice Moss WR Miami (FL)
3 3 32 96 Gerris Wilkinson LB Georgia Tech
4 4 27 124 Barry Cofield DT Northwestern
5 4 32 129 Guy Whimper T East Carolina
6 5 26 158 Charlie Peprah DB Alabama
7 7 24 232 Gerrick McPhearson DB Maryland
2005 1 2 11 43 Corey Webster DB Louisiana State
2 3 10 74 Justin Tuck DE Notre Dame
3 4 9 110 Brandon Jacobs RB Southern Illinois
4 6 12 186 Eric Moore DE Florida State

Was this 2002 draft for the G-men "great"
1 1 14 14 Jeremy Shockey TE Miami (FL)
2 2 14 46 Tim Carter WR Auburn
3 3 13 78 Jeff Hatch T Pennsylvania
4 5 17 152 Nick Greisen LB Wisconsin
5 6 16 188 Wesley Mallard DB Oregon
6 7 15 226 Daryl Jones WR Miami (FL)
7 7 35 246 Quincy Monk LB North Carolina

Here is another Giants draft 1998
1998 1 1 24 24 Shaun Williams DB UCLA
2 2 25 55 Joe Jurevicius WR Penn State
3 3 9 70 Brian Alford WR Purdue
4 5 24 147 Toby Myles T Jackson State
5 6 24 177 Todd Pollack TE Boston College
6 7 24 213 Ben Fricke C Houston

Here are some poor Colts drafts
2005
2005 1 1 29 29 Marlin Jackson DB Michigan
2 2 28 60 Kelvin Hayden DB Illinois
3 3 28 92 Vincent Burns DE Kentucky
4 4 28 129 Dylan Gandy G Texas Tech
5 4 34 135 Matt Giordano DB California
6 5 12 148 Jonathan Welsh DE Wisconsin
7 5 29 165 Robert Hunt C North Dakota State
8 5 37 173 Tyjuan Hagler LB Cincinnati
9 6 28 202 Dave Rayner K Michigan State
10 7 29 243 Anthony Davis RB Wisconsin

2000

1 1 28 28 Rob Morris LB Brigham Young
2 2 28 59 Marcus Washington DE Auburn
3 3 29 91 David Macklin DB Penn State
4 4 28 122 Josh Williams DT Michigan
5 5 9 138 Matt Johnson G Brigham Young
6 7 29 235 Rob Renes DT Michigan
7 7 32 238 Rodregis Brooks DB Alabama-Birmingham


These teams had some great drafts, but also some clunkers, and some saved only by catching lightning in a bottle with a late pick anyone could have had. Look at drafthistory.com and you can see for yourself how iffy drafts really are, especially after round one.

I wouldn't say the Patriots always have great drafts. A big reason for their success is their free agency pickups but overall they've still had good drafts over the years. Any team will have a bad year drafting sometimes but over the last decade the Rams haven't been close to successful in drafts or free agency overall.

A team like the Giants has had great drafts since the middle part of this decade. The Giants have come up with a lot of pro bowlers and very solid starters since 2003 with their drafts. Good drafts are why the Giants are one of the best teams in the NFL right now and bad drafts are a big reason why the Rams have 5 wins the last 2 seasons.

You can list a couple of busts from the Giants but once again that's only one side of the argument. Every team has busts but good draft teams also have players who make impacts. Here are some players the made big impacts for the Giants.

2003
Osi Umenyora- pro bowl defensive end
David Diehl- starting left tackle for the best offensive line in the NFL
2004
Eli Manning- pro bowl quarterback
Chris Snee- pro bowl guard
Gibril Wilson- very good safety who was a big part of the defense on their super bowl team
2005
Corey Webster- considered by some to be the second best corner in the NFL
Justin Tuck- pro bowl defensive end
Brandon Jacobs- the starting runningback for the best running team in the NFL
2006
Mathias Kiwanuka- very solid starter
Barry Cofield- very solid starter
2007
Aaron Ross- solid starter
Steve Smith- solid starter
Kevin Boss- solid starter
Michael Johnson- solid starter
Ahmad Bradshaw- was crucial to the Giants winning the superbowl and always plays well when given the opportunity.
All of the players listed from the 2007 draft made big impacts in the playoffs of the 2007 season.

I feel good about the Rams last 2 drafts and they made good signings in free agency so far this off season. It looks like everyone likes the direction the Rams are heading.